CLASSIC: The Strange and Spectacularly Disgusting Story of the Great Kentucky Meat Shower

Summary

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Ridiculous History – CLASSIC: The Strange and Spectacularly Disgusting Story of the Great Kentucky Meat Shower

Podcast by iHeartPodcasts | Hosts: Ben Bowlin & Noel Brown
Original Air Date: August 23, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this “Ridiculous History” classic episode, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown, with super producer Casey Pegram, revisit one of the most bizarre events in American history—the Great Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876. With their trademark humor and curiosity, they recount the story of strange chunks of “meat” raining from the sky in Bath County, Kentucky, and dive into the many scientific, supernatural, and just plain peculiar theories that attempted to explain this phenomenon. The episode blends historical storytelling, skeptical science, and a bit of absurd speculation—all with a rich helping of banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Meat Shower Incident

• Date & Place: March 3, 1876, Bath County, Kentucky ([00:15], [06:39])
• Discovery: Mrs. Crouch, a local resident, was making soap in her yard when she heard “the pitter patter of... rain”—but what fell were chunks of meat, some as big as 3-4 inches. ([07:20])
• Eyewitnesses: Multiple neighbors witnessed the meat covering fences and the ground.

“What was falling in her yard was not rain, not precipitation. It was meat.” — Ben ([07:41])

2. Media Sensation and First Theories

• The New York Times captured national attention with the headline “Flesh Descending in a Shower. An Astounding Phenomenon in Kentucky.” ([05:00])
• Initial Taste Testers: Locals, undeterred by the source, tasted the sky-meat. They compared it to “mutton, venison, or bear—slightly gamey.” ([09:29]–[10:15])
• Public Wonder: At a time when stories of objects falling from the sky (frogs, fish, rocks) were local legends, a “rain of meat” was absolutely confounding.

3. Theories Explaining the Phenomenon

• Nostoc Theory (Plant Jelly):
  Dr. Leopold Brandes, examining the specimens months later, concluded it was not meat, but “Nostoc”—a cyanobacteria previously nicknamed “witch jelly” or “troll butter.”
  • Problem: Requires rain for activation; but the sky was clear that day. ([11:27]–[13:03])
• Lung Tissue Theory:
  Dr. A. Mead Edwards believed it was animal lung tissue (horse or human infant) based on microscopic samples containing lung, muscle, and cartilage.
  • “That’s... a lot of lung meat. You'd have to have a lot of babies to make that much lung meat.” — Noel ([14:17])
• Meteor Shower / Space Meat Theory:
  William Livingston Alden speculated a “belt of space meat,” just as there’s an asteroid belt, pelting Earth with “venison, mutton and other meats divided into small fragments.”
  • “Not very likely... I actually saw another version that said this was, like, potentially alien meat.” — Noel ([20:47]–[20:56])
• Vulture Vomit (Most Accepted Explanation):
  Local farmers and later scientists proposed that vultures, gorged on putrid meat, vomited en masse when startled during flight, creating a “meat shower.”
  • Dr. L.D. Kastenbine obtained samples, burned them, and detected “rancid mutton,” cementing the vulture linkage ([23:22]).
  • Modern experts, like Joe Walston, confirm vultures will vomit to reduce weight mid-flight, sometimes collectively if startled ([25:31]).
  • Vultures flying as high as 40,000 ft could have been invisible to townsfolk below at the time.

“If one goes, they all go.” — Ben, on vulture group vomiting ([35:33])

4. Cultural & Folkloric Angles

• Victorian Superstition: Mrs. Crouch reportedly feared her family had been “shredded and rained down as punishment by an angry God.” ([36:39])
• Animal Group Names:
  The show explores fun (and unusual) terms for groups of scavenger birds:
  • Vultures: committee, venue, vault (on ground); kettle (in flight); wake (when feeding) ([24:02]–[24:32])
  • Ravens: an unkindness ([24:43])

5. The Meat: Measurements and Mystique

• No precise weight of the meat fall exists; locals described it as “enough to fill a horse wagon full.” This would be a familiar unit around 1876, but is vague by modern standards ([28:18]–[29:09]).

6. Final Thoughts—Solved or Not?

• The vulture vomit explanation remains the leading theory, supported by field behavior and some tissue analysis.
• Hosts delight in the more outlandish theories (space meat, vulture curses) but agree the biological explanation is most likely—if a bit revolting, especially for those who sampled it.

“With the most logical explanation being vulture vomit… I wonder how those townspeople felt about having, you know, snacked on that stuff.” — Noel ([29:38])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “It's rain and meat. Hallelujah!” — Noel ([05:07])
• “Troll Butter. Witch Jelly. But I think either one... flipping it too. They’re both evocative.” — Ben ([11:49])
• “Was it a sheep on a mission of revenge?” — Ben, speculating on what could have spooked the vultures ([25:08])
• “If you want to take off quick with a huge amount of weight, the first thing you’re going to do is vomit—which I think applies to everyone.” — Joe Walston (quoted by Ben) ([25:31])
• “Have you ever seen them up close?” — Ben
  “Just on the side of the road.” — Noel ([23:59])
• “It’s not a meaty manna situation.” — Ben ([30:13])

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Notable Segment Timestamps

• 00:15 – “Kentucky Meat shower!” – Introduction to the topic.
• 05:00 – New York Times headline; original press coverage.
• 07:20 – The main eyewitness story: Mrs. Crouch in her yard.
• 09:29 – Meat-tasting townsfolk assess flavor.
• 11:27 – Discussion of the Nostoc (plant jelly) theory.
• 14:16 – The “lung tissue” / animal origin theory.
• 20:47 – “Space meat” and meaty meteor shower speculation.
• 22:38 – Vulture vomit hypothesis begins.
• 25:31 – Modern confirmation of vulture behavior.
• 28:18 – Descriptions of quantity (“horse wagon full of meat”).
• 35:33 – Vulture group regurgitation lore.
• 36:39 – Mrs. Crouch’s fear of divine retribution.
• 37:15 – Hosts wrap up: “We have solved to a great degree the mystery...”
• 41:16 – “The Quizzter” game segment (begins a new scenario).

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Tone, Style, & Audience Engagement

• Playful & Informative: The hosts are irreverent, quick with puns (“It’s rain and meat, hallelujah!”), and enthusiastic about even the grossest details. They deftly balance historic facts with speculative fun.
• Interactive: They frequently invite listener participation (“Which explanation do you think is most plausible or which do you wish was the true story?” [34:22]).
• Curiosity-Driven: No theory, no matter how outlandish, is dismissed without a laugh and a fair hearing.

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Conclusion

This classic episode of “Ridiculous History” offers a well-researched, highly entertaining deep-dive into the Kentucky Meat Shower, blending cutting-edge 1870s science, 19th-century folklore, and 21st-century comedic sensibility. The vulture vomit explanation holds up, but listeners are encouraged to pick their own favorite—be it space venison, cursed townsfolk, or panicked birds. The show closes with a delightful “Quizzter” history game and an invitation for listener tales of bizarre things falling from the sky.

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For fans of bizarre mysteries, good-natured humor, and historical oddities, this episode is meatily satisfying—just maybe don’t listen while eating.

Transcript

[A]

Fellow ridiculous historians, we would love to share a classic episode wherein we discovered what we suspect is a powerful euphemism. And it sounds so dirty. Noel Kentucky Meat shower.

[B]

You're talking about the Kentucky meat shower.

[C]

Sound like a Cleveland steamer. Yeah. No, don't look that up. Yeah, it does sound euphemistic. AF On March 3, 1876, residents of Bath County, Kentucky were startled to find what appeared to be chunky, flaky bits of meat falling from the clear blue sky.

[A]

Literally. Yes, this is a true story. This is something that absolutely arrested national attention and people had all sorts of theories about this. In this episode, we attempt to solve the mystery.

[C]

Let's roll that meaty tape.

[D]

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There's a vile sickness in Amber's town. You must excise it. Dig into the deep earth and cut it out. From iheart podcasts and Grim and mild from Aaron Manke. This is Havoc Town, a new fiction podcast set in the Bridgewater audio universe, starring Jewel State and Ray Wise. Listen to Havoc town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Let's start today's episode with a quotation from the New York Times. On March 10, 1876, we'll just give you the headline here. Flesh descending in a shower. An astounding phenomenon in Kentucky. Fresh meat like mutton or venison falling from a clear sky.

[C]

Yum.

[A]

Yes, they said like mutton or like venison. But what was it? Hi, I'm Ben.

[C]

Hey, I'm Noel. And it's rain and meat. Hallelujah.

[A]

I was thinking this.

[C]

Rain and meat. You were not.

[A]

Yeah, I was. I was singing it when I walked in.

[C]

Why you gotta one up me, Ben?

[A]

I'm not one. Upping now. You didn't even write it's raining mint.

[C]

No, it's true. Oh.

[A]

But we are also joined by our super producer, Casey Pegram. And this is the first time the three of us have been back on the show together in a little. In a little while, isn't it?

[C]

Yeah, I guess it has been a minute.

[A]

Probably like a month or something.

[C]

Oh, my God, that voice from the sky. Like showers of meat in our ears. Super producer Casey Fegram. Man, I've missed you guys. Missed you. I know, it's weird. Casey was in France for a while, and then we were away. And then I was away last week. And here we are.

[A]

Here we are. And we decided now that the three of us have Reunited after far too long that we were going to pick up our continuing mission to do an episode for every state in the United States, and we're going to hopefully succeed. Where Sufjan paused for a second.

[C]

He just. I think it was a troll. Honestly, I don't think he had any intention of doing it. He only made two.

[A]

Maybe he's got a back catalog. It's been years. Maybe he's just really stuck on Rhode Island.

[C]

You mean like a vault? Yeah, maybe unreleased state records that no one's gonna ever hear.

[A]

Sort of like JD Salinger had all those stories that no one saw until after his death.

[C]

I didn't know about that.

[A]

Yeah. But hopefully a little bit different.

[C]

Well, speaking of stories.

[A]

Speaking of stories, Noel, we got one today. We do. We do. So this episod will count for our Kentucky episode. Right. And from this headline, you can tell that we're describing something pretty bizarre. You see, back in March 9th of. What did we say, 1876. That's right. Yeah. Back in March 9th, in Bath County, Kentucky, there was someone named Alan Crouch. This guy lived about two or three miles from a place we've seen alternately called Olympian Springs in the original New York Times piece, but then later called. What was that?

[C]

It's Olympia Springs. So who knows?

[A]

Who knows? Probably the people that live there. Right. And Mrs. Crouch was out in the yard at the time. She was making soap. And then she looked around, she heard the pitter patter of what she thought was, you know, maybe the beginning of rain on a clear day without a cloud in the sky. And she looked around and. And what was falling in her yard was not rain, not precipitation. It was meat.

[C]

Yeah. In an event that would go down in history as the great Kentucky Meat shower, which is not some kind of crazy mullet.

[A]

Right, Right. Or a weird euphemism. Also, I love the fact that they added great to the name because it implies that there were some other relatively mediocre.

[C]

Yeah, there were. There had to have been some lesser meat showers. But what. What happened? What. Why. Why was meat rain? And it wasn't just like little pieces of meat. It was like all kinds of different sized pieces of meat.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. The ones that Mrs. Crouch saw were 3 to 4 inches square, so pretty substantial, you know. And other people saw this, too. It wasn't just Mrs. Crouch. And people tried to immediately figure out what this could be. And we have to remember that the people in this area at this time, we're well aware of other anecdotal stories of strange things falling from the sky. Rains of fish, for instance, you know, or a rain of stones. But these were often considered to be stories of old, you know, things you would read about in ancient text.

[C]

Is there anything in the Bible about plague of meat rain?

[A]

Surely there's some sort of supernatural esque rain, but I don't think it's just straight up meat.

[C]

Was. There's frogs.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, frogs.

[C]

Yeah. They will eventually become meat.

[A]

I mean, if you're ambitious.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And here's the thing. Not only did other people see it, but two people in the area got their gumption up and they said, there's one easy way to figure out what kind of meat this is. Let's taste it. Hmm.

[C]

Yeah. There was a guy named Harrison Gill who was nearby and who the New York Times article refers to as having unquestionable veracity. So he spoke the truth and he was seeing these pieces of meat, like sticking to fences and all scattered every which where. And yeah, he was one of the ones that decided, let's give it a taste. And it was kind of argued between some of the tasters, the intrepid sky meat tasters, whether it was bear or possibly venison, or a popular one was mutton.

[A]

Right. Because they described a slightly gamey taste to it. And mutton and venison especially can be gamey. I've never eaten bear.

[C]

No, I haven't either. But I would assume it's super dark meat and very, very gamey. Although mutton, to me it would be a dead giveaway because, you know, lamb and any kind of meat like mutton has a very, very distinct taste. It doesn't really taste like anything else.

[A]

Distinct is the correct word, I would think there. And I don't even know if it's legal to eat a bear that just. I'm not living the kind of life where that's come up yet. What about you?

[C]

Well, this is in the 1800s, so that was probably the Wild west as far as bear meat's concerned.

[A]

That's a good point. That's a really good point. The first explanation from a man of science at the time comes from a guy named Leopold Brandes, about what, three months after the incident, he is able to get ahold of some of the specimens, or it looks like a specimen, but he gets some of it in a jar preserved or a bottle preserved in glycerin, and he starts poking around at it and then he makes the declaration that while this may appear to be meat, it is not actually meat at all.

[C]

Wait, what?

[A]

Yeah, that's what he said. He said it was not, in fact meat. He believed it was something called Nostoc. No stock.

[C]

Oh, that's right. This is like a, like a plant based organism.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It's a cyanobacteria that comes actually from the soil, from the ground. You can find it on moist rocks, bottoms of lakes and springs. It used to be called Troll Butter or Witch Jelly back in Europe.

[C]

You're joking.

[A]

No, that's true.

[C]

Those are amazing names for food products.

[A]

I know, I know, I know.

[C]

Troll Jelly or Witch Butter.

[A]

Troll Butter. Witch Jelly. But I think either one flipping it too. They're both evocative.

[C]

This is great. I'm going to use those just, just for. I don't know, I don't know why yet, but I love those.

[A]

Yeah, I'm, I've, I've been thinking the same thing in. When this stuff is dry, it's pretty easy to miss. But when it's, when it's wet, it does have this jelly like, I guess you could say maybe meat esque. Meat esque appearance. But Brandy said that it's pretty easy to identify the subject. He was, he was also, by the way, convinced this was true. The Kentucky Wonder is no more or less than Nostoc. And people had known about the nostoc since the 1600s. I mean, that's how you get nicknames like Witch Jelly.

[C]

But how did it, where, where did it come from? What was his, what was his idea about how this stuff made it up into the atmosphere and then showered down upon this relatively small area?

[A]

It goes back to when it is dry versus when it is wet. So when this stuff is dry, it's so inconspicuous and people thought that it would float on the breeze until it rained and then when it was raining, the Nostoc would absorb the moisture and then it would fall from the sky as a jelly.

[C]

Interesting. But that's not the only theory.

[A]

That's not the only theory. That's not the only theory. Oh, we should also mention those other nicknames, Star Slubber. I don't know.

[C]

I don't care for that one.

[A]

That one feels somehow dirty. And then Star Jelly, which is still. I don't know, which is Butter, which is jelly. Those are my picks. So he believed, Brandy's of course, believed that this was the 100% absolute answer. But the problem is that for his theory to be correct, it would have had to have rained at some point or there would have had to be at least some rain bearing clouds in the sky. You Know what I mean? Because the, the Nostoc would have to absorb this moisture. And there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was perfectly clear day. And this meant that there were going to be other theories like you said. Noel, what was one of the other theories that came up?

[C]

Yeah, this is a pretty gross one. It was this notion from a guy named Dr. Amid Edwards who believed that this meat stuff was actually lung from a horse or possibly an infant.

[A]

Yes, a human child.

[C]

Now what's the deal with that? There was a lot of them. That is a lot of lung meat. You have to have a lot of babies to make that much lung meat. I mean, we're talking like, you know, sticking to the fences, Ben. Scattered across the ground every which way, willy nilly.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that's the problem. Right. That explanation, it's even tougher to believe, but there is truth to it, right? They examined seven samples of this meat shower and they confirmed, I believe, two of them to be lung tissue and three were muscle tissue and two were made of cartilage. So there was lung tissue in there. But how would it come from human infant specifically, or a horse? And also how similar are the lungs of a horse and the lungs of a human infant? Apparently, quite, apparently distressingly similar. So what gives? People couldn't really answer that question, could they? They just said because it's lung tissue. But we believe that it came from a human infant or a horse. But they didn't really explain how it could have gotten there into the sky, then onto the ground in Bath County.

[C]

That's the thing. No one seems to be looking for that particular solution. They're more like what's the meat? It's the mystery of the meat. Not about how in the hell it ended up coming down from the sky.

[A]

Right.

[C]

That seemed like the least of people's.

[A]

Concerns, which is strange because it makes you think about priorities. You know.

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But again, there were more theories, right? Some more plausible than others.

[C]

So one of my favorite theories that actually does try to take a look at how this material could have managed to make it up into the sky and rain down upon these hapless people of Olympia blames this occurrence on a meteor shower. Mmm.

[A]

Do tell.

[C]

Super meaty meteor shower. So here's a quote from the New York Times from William Livingston Alden. He wrote, according to the present theory of astronomers, an enormous belt of meteoric stones constantly revolves around the sun. And when the Earth comes in contact with this belt, she is soundly pelted. Okay. He goes on to say, similarly, we may suppose that there revolves around the sun a belt of venison, mutton and other meats divided into small fragments which are precipitated upon the Earth whenever the latter crosses their path. Help me unpack that, Ben.

[A]

I mean, it sounds like what it says on the tin. So how likely do you think that is?

[C]

Not very. I actually saw another version of this theory that said that this was, like, potentially, like, alien meat.

[A]

So this is space venison.

[C]

Space meat.

[A]

Space venison.

[C]

All right.

[A]

Space mutton. So that idea is fascinating. I don't know if it's true. I'm just gonna say it. I don't wanna be a pessimist, you know, I don't wanna shut the guy down. What do you think?

[C]

Oh, I mean, it's bonkers.

[A]

You don't wanna live in a world with space venison?

[C]

I don't know, man. I mean, it's not that I don't wanna live in that world, it's just that I don't know that that world exists.

[A]

How do they get up there?

[C]

I don't know. It was a real jump in this guy's. He's like. So there's this thing called asteroids, an asteroid belt. So if there's an asteroid belt, why couldn't there also be a similar belt of meat?

[A]

Maybe the guy was just very pro belt.

[C]

I don't know. I think he was high.

[A]

So, speaking of high, there may be another explanation, and it's an explanation that involves animals. Birds. Your favorite, your favorites, bud. And this explanation originally came from an old farmer in. In Ohio who, upon learning of the meat shower, said, I have an explanation. It's not space venison. It's not human lung tissue. It's nothing that you guys have said before. It is, in fact, something that I've seen vultures do in the past. He said that this deluge of meat was actually a disgorgement of meat from vultures who were flying too high to be visible from the ground. And some vultures can fly as high as, like, a little less than 40,000ft or 12,000 meters.

[C]

Geez.

[A]

So it'd be tough to see them. And he said that this was vulture vomit. And then a little bit later, a guy named Dr. L.D. kastenbein, writing in the Louisville Medical News, said, yeah, I think the farmer's right. I think this is vulture vomit. And he obtained his own sample, and he lit it on fire. And he was like, ah, this is not just mutton, it's rancid mutton. And this made him believe that the culprits were vultures. They ate a dead sheep and they flew off, but due to the weight of the meat they were carrying in their bodies, they were having a hard time flying, so they vomited in the sky to make it easier for them to fly.

[C]

Well, this is the thing that vultures do, kind of on the reg. They'll unburden themselves of a heavy load of meat. Cause, you know, they eat this stuff raw. They also have really acidic stomachs, I read, to aid in this digestion. And so sometimes they're so loaded down from gorging themselves on, you know, like, a dead sheep, like you said, that they have to puke it up just to so they can fly properly.

[A]

And some vultures even vomit on their feet to regulate their temperature.

[C]

That's disgusting. Vultures are filthy, disgusting creatures.

[A]

They're very different. They're very different things. Have you ever seen them up close?

[C]

Just on the side of the road?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, I don't go for.

[A]

You don't stop.

[C]

I don't go.

[A]

You don't pick up a vulture?

[C]

No, dude. Do you know what a group of vultures is called? It's cool. There's. There's A different name for. For them, depending on what they're doing.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[C]

So a group of vultures is a committee, a venue, or a vault, which I like. Which do you prefer?

[A]

I guess it depends on what they're doing.

[C]

A vault. Well, so then if they're in flight, they're a kettle.

[A]

I think I've heard that one. Yeah.

[C]

And if they're feeding in a group, it's cause the best one, it's called a wake.

[A]

Yes, yeah, yeah. But what's a vault?

[C]

It's just.

[A]

Like I said, that's just general.

[C]

They're interchangeable. A group of vultures can be either a committee, a venue, or a vault.

[A]

Do you know what a group of ravens is called?

[C]

It's an unkindness.

[A]

Right, yes, an unkindness of ravens. So this vulture vomit explanation is. May not be particularly enjoyable or. I don't know, it's. It can be pretty disgusting, especially when we consider those two guys ate it. But it does give us the ability to conjecture a little bit about how the vultures came to vomit over Bath County. First off, vultures don't tend to fly of their own free will after they eat because they are digesting. So this means that something must have startled the vultures. We don't know what it was. Was it a sheep on a mission of revenge? Was it a farmer discovering the sheep and shooting at the vultures?

[C]

Yeah. And this is coming from a great article from Motherboard called the Mystery of the Kentucky Meat Shower by Kaylee Rogers. And she actually speaks to the vice president for field programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society who says his name is Joe Walston. He says if you want to take off quick with a huge amount of weight, the first thing you're going to do is vomit, which I think applies to everyone.

[A]

I also pulled some vulture facts from this excellent book. I want to recommend if you're ready for a deep dive into human vulture relationships called Carrion Dreams. It's written by a guy named Benjamin Joel Wilkinson, and as far as I can tell, man, he is just super into the history of vultures.

[C]

And.

[A]

And he describes vultures in folklore and mythology as well. You know, if you go back to the ancient days of history, and one of the interesting things is that when and where a vulture vomits is also considered significant in certain cultures or folkloric events. It's a sign, which is neat. You know, for instance, here in Georgia, it used to be a common, you know, folktale belief that if you deeply desire something, all you have to do is Wish for it as you throw a kiss at a vulture and your wish will come true. But you had to be careful not to speak to a vulture while it was flying overhead, because if you did and it hurt you, it would punish you. By vomiting on you. No. So maybe.

[C]

Is that really in there?

[A]

That's really a thing? Yeah. I'm telling you, Carrie, In Dreams is a great book. It's also a very weird book, but. So if that's true, perhaps somebody spoke to a vulture while it was flying over Kentucky.

[C]

Well, here's the thing, too. It's like this would have had to be a multiple. A group puke session.

[A]

A kettle. It had to be the whole kettle.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the whole kettle. Puking, you know, en masse. And in this motherboard article, they also speak to a guy named Kurt Goad, who's an art professor at Transylvania University in Lexington and a self professed expert in meat showers is what he said. He proposes that this is definitely the most likely scenario that would have happened because all of the meat was different sizes. It came.

[A]

So.

[C]

Which would have made sense if it had come from different animals that were, you know, chewing and feeding on different carcasses or whatever and then ended up together. And they couldn't exactly ever figure out what types of animal that came from, but it would have been from all different kinds. And there was some, you know, cartilage and lung material in there as well. So it certainly was a mixed bag of meat.

[A]

And here's the thing. We don't know exactly how much meat actually fell. We don't have a measure of, you know, X amount of tons or this many pounds. Instead we have. What's the phrase they use in most of the news at the time? They say it was enough to fill a horse wagon full. And for most people these days, it's not a very easy rule of thumb kind of measurement. Right, Totally. So there's a defense that Kurt comes up with in this or Dr. Goad. He says that in 1876, if you said, oh, it was a horse wagon full of meat, that was the equivalent now of saying it's like a big gulp from McDonald's. So his argument is that horse wagons were ubiquitous enough at the time that most people would have a rough idea of what that size meant.

[C]

I'm trying to picture it. I'm sorry, I'm picturing this, this wagon full of meat.

[A]

That's the thing is a lot. Is it a wagon to carry horses or is it a wagon that horses carry behind them? That makes A difference.

[C]

Oh, that's true. And I guess I'm just picturing one of those standard wagons with the little slats on the side that can be pulled behind a horse.

[A]

Yeah, where somebody sits up, you can sit up.

[C]

Exactly. Yeah.

[A]

So either way, that's a distressing amount of meat to fall from the sky. What do you think is the mystery solved?

[C]

Well, I mean, with the most logical explanation being vulture vomit. I wonder how those townspeople felt about having, you know, snacked on some of that stuff. Out of curiosity, I think. I think at the time, eating raw meat wasn't quite as, you know, frowned upon or they weren't really worried about foodborne illnesses so much, I think.

[A]

Yeah. And I believe the idea was that one wouldn't get sick if you just tasted it rather than, you know, consuming a large amount of it or the amount that would be equivalent to a meal.

[C]

This certainly wouldn't have been like, oh, free food, I don't know. From heaven.

[A]

Yeah, Manna. It's not a meaty mana situation.

[D]

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[A]

There'S a vile sickness in Abbas town. You must excise it. Dig into the deep earth and cut it out. The village is ravaged. Entire families have been consumed.

[D]

You know how waking up from a.

[B]

Dream, a familiar place can look completely alien.

[C]

Get back everyone.

[A]

And if you see the devil walking around inside of another man, you must cut out the very heart of him, burn his body and scout the ashes in the furthest corner of this town. As a warning from Iheart podcasts and Grim and mild from Aaron Manke. This is Havoc Town, a new fiction podcast set in the Bridgewater audio universe, starring Jewel State and Ray Wise. Listen to Havoc town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The devil walks in Abbotstown.

[D]

Your entire identity has been fabricated. Your beloved brother goes missing without a trace. You discover the depths of your mother's illness, the way it has echoed and reverberated throughout your life, impacting your very legacy. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, and these are just a few of the profound and powerful stories I'll be mining on our 12th season of Family Secrets. With over 37 million downloads, we continue to be moved and inspired by our guests and their courageously told stories. I can't wait to share 10 powerful new episodes with you. Stories of tangled up identities, concealed truths, and the way in which family secrets almost always need to be told. I hope you'll join me and my extraordinary guests for this new season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets Season 12 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

A foot washed up, A shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was. Most everything was burned up pretty good from the fire, that not a whole lot was salvageable.

[D]

These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change.

[A]

Every case that is a cold case.

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That has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime.

[D]

A small lab in Texas is cracking.

[A]

The code on DNA using new scientific tools.

[D]

They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.

[C]

He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha.

[D]

On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors. And you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

There is a question here that we have for you ridiculous historians. Which explanation do you think is the most plausible or which do you wish was the true story? So we've got, let's see, we've got human flesh, we've got nostoc, we've got space venison, space meat. We've got a curse from a vulture. And then of course, we just have a panicked vulture, a panicked kettle of vultures attempting to fly. I'll Tell you, man, my favorite, my favorites personally, are either the space venison or the vulture curse.

[C]

You are all about this space venison.

[A]

Mm. Yeah, that's what people say about me. I guess we should add. There are a couple more details that we can add to these theories. One, in terms of vulture behavior is that. Have you ever seen those episodes of south park or Family Guy? It's on so many comedy shows. This trope of one person throwing up, and then everyone's seeing them throw up, and then they throw up as well in reaction.

[C]

Oh, God, yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So vultures really do that? That's the thing when they are flying in a group, if one goes, they all go.

[C]

See? This has got to be the answer, right?

[A]

This doesn't invalidate a vulture curse. It may mean that the vultures vomit swarmed on them, cursing everyone in the town. So I guess the moral of the story, if that theory is true, is don't talk to vultures while they're busy.

[C]

I wouldn't go anywhere near the ugly bastards.

[A]

We had some more details, though, on. Is it a whole new theory or is it something to add to?

[C]

Well, I was trying to a little more information about this supposed meat meteor shower, but there's really not a whole lot out there. It all kind of comes down to that quote about how there may be a belt of venison, mutton and other meats divided into small fragments that are revolving around the sun, which is bizarre. But there's another one. The woman, I believe her name was Mary Crouch, who was making soap. She apparently initially was scared that her husband and son, I believe, had been sucked up into the sky and shredded and eviscerated by an angry God and then rained down upon her in retribution for what?

[A]

Soap?

[C]

Who knows?

[A]

Who knows?

[C]

Just being a sinner. It's an angry God up there, Ben.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Did you ever read that original sermon?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Sinners in the hand of an angry God.

[C]

That's a wild one. We should do an episode on that.

[A]

We should. We should. Actually, I have a lot of that. I have a lot of the work from that time. But for now, we believe that we have solved to a great degree the mystery of the Kentucky meat shower.

[C]

We didn't do it.

[A]

We. I say we as the human species.

[C]

There you go. There you go.

[A]

Yeah. Whenever people say we, they usually mean in a global event like the human species. Right, I agree.

[C]

I agree. And if I thought of a better musical theme for this episode, actually better than its rainbow.

[A]

What is it?

[C]

Red rain is coming Down Red rain is Falling, which is a totally useless Peter Gabriel song to me, but completely useful in this context.

[A]

Well, you're welcome, Peter. And what better Note to end our show on today. Thank you so much for listening. Let us know if, especially if you happen to live in this area of Kentucky, let us know if people still talk about this strange event in 1876, and if so, what do they say about it?

[C]

And have you heard of any of the lesser meat showers of other locales?

[A]

Very interested to hear that. Yeah. Or have you heard of any other extraordinary stories of things falling from the sky in your neck of the global woods? If so, let us know. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, especially on our. One of our favorite places on the Internet, our Facebook community page, Ridiculous Historians, where, you know, we see some cool stuff.

[C]

Stuff happens there.

[A]

It's a, it's a.

[C]

It's a. It's a place in our hearts and also on the Internet.

[A]

That's a great way to describe it. Additionally, we'd like to thank, as always, super producer Casey Pegram.

[C]

I would like to thank Alex Williams, who composed our theme, our research pals, Christopher Haciotes and Eve's Jeffco, and I believe, Ben, we have a new member to the ridiculous history research team as Christopher and Eve kind of move on to start working on some stuff of their own.

[A]

Yes. Thank you to Gabe Gabriel Luzier, who, funny story, used to also work with Mental Floss.

[C]

That's awesome.

[A]

I love that man.

[C]

We're happy to have him.

[A]

Yeah. So that's it for today, but stay tuned for next time when we reveal. Wait, wait, did you hear that?

[C]

You know, I heard it, Ben.

[A]

I was gonna. Just keep going. It's time, gentlemen, Jonathan Strickland, the quister.

[C]

He really leaned into that one. You.

[B]

Well, it's been a long time. I have to. It has to make up for lost time.

[A]

It has been a long time. And although we are sworn nemeses, I just want to check in real quick. How you been doing?

[B]

Pretty good.

[C]

Pretty good.

[A]

Kids are great, you know, just like kids in general.

[B]

Just in general. Yeah. I don't have any children myself, but, you know, they seem to be going to school and I understand that's a good thing. Yeah, things are, you know, things are fine.

[C]

Did they learn about the great Kentucky.

[A]

Meat shower in school or any of the other showers that are implied by that title?

[B]

Well, in fact, we're going to be exploring a shower of our own. My friends. Get in the shower with me. My buddies.

[A]

No, come on in Okay. A shower of the mind.

[B]

At least the weird animals are just fine. Now, listen, we know that I am part of the most cringe worthy segment in all of podcasting in which I, the Quizzter, show up and I pose a scenario to the two of you, and you determine whether or not it is actually representative of a real thing, what happened in history, or I done made it all upsies.

[A]

Right?

[B]

You get three minutes. You can discuss amongst yourselves for three minutes.

[C]

Can we phone a friend? Can we rope Casey into this?

[B]

No. If you had friends, you could in fact phone them. But I know for a fact you are friends.

[C]

That's hurtful. We're not friends.

[B]

Are you kidding?

[C]

Oh, that's all right. I see. I always confuse them.

[A]

Okay, okay. But in addition to that, you also add one arbitrary rule, right?

[B]

So that if you wish to ask any question to me, you must first obey a rule of arbitrary nature that I make up, typically two minutes before I come in here. Okay, And. And you have to do that in order to ask a question. I will tell you what that rule is after I have given you your scenario.

[A]

All right, you know what? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling all right, Noel, Casey, I think we got this.

[B]

I'll give you the scenario, okay? I will give you your arbitrary rule. And then time will begin, at which.

[A]

Point I will vault over to that gigantic grandfather clock.

[B]

You'll pull the pull cord. Wait, the diesel engine going? Yeah.

[A]

All right, all right.

[B]

It gets really fumey in here, by the way. All right, here's your scenario. In 1402, in Shropshire, England, locals were perplexed by what they described as a rain of worms falling upon the village in what amounted to thousands of worms covering the entire area, including the rooftops of several buildings. The odd weather was met not with superstition and fear, as we'd usually guess, but with a sort of bewildered amusement. However, this historical event would later be immortalized by none other than William Shakespeare, who fudged the date so that it happened more than a year later, on the eve of the Battle of Shrewsbury, which features in Henry IV, Part 1. In Act 4, Scene 1, Harry Hotspur Percy, the leader of a rebellion against Henry iv, says, yester e' en they do say that worms fell as though rain. Fortune is so disposed to us that nature herself turns gainst this pretender king. In the mid-19th century, when Shakespeare's plays became more popular, Shropshire began what would become an annual tradition, a festival day celebrating the reign of worms. It happens every year on the second Saturday of April. And your arbitrary rule is you must quote Shakespeare, any Shakespeare, before asking me a question. Begin the time.

[A]

I'm taking a run for it. And we are. Okay. We're good.

[C]

You've made worms meat of me. Hmm.

[B]

You have a question, Noel?

[C]

I do. I do. I don't know. I just wanted to quote some Shakespeare. I don't really have any questions.

[B]

That's fair. That's a good. It's a good quote.

[A]

Very well. I bite my thumb at you.

[B]

A Romeo and Juliet reference. Go ahead.

[A]

Okay, so this festival, what's the name of it again?

[B]

It is known as the Rain of Worms Festival. And it is second Saturday of every April.

[A]

In your story, it's ongoing.

[B]

It is ongoing. In your story, it is ongoing.

[A]

Casey, what do you think? Oh, just for. So wait, wait.

[B]

We're letting Casey come into the city?

[C]

I asked you that earlier and you ignored me and said I had no friends.

[A]

For everything. For every. Everybody listening. What happened when you heard that dead air and those pauses between the Quister and myself? I was staring at him to read body language. Somewhat unsuccessfully. All right, Casey, what's. What's your take, man?

[C]

Oh, boy. See, I hate this because whenever you.

[A]

And Noel are not in agreement on something, I'm going to be the tiebreaker. And I'm probably going to get it wrong most of the time. I don't know. We usually tend to be on the same page pretty quickly.

[B]

You do rock, paper, scissors every time.

[A]

So what does that. We've got a. We've got a shtick. That works, man.

[B]

But that means that you're at opposition with one another. If you were in agreement, you wouldn't have to do rock, paper, scissors.

[A]

That's what you can only really do Rock, paper, scissors with friends. I don't know if you have a lot of friends, Jonathan, but if you have friends and you play rock, paper, scissors. Okay, look, we're at a minute 20.

[C]

I kind of think this is true, but I could be completely wrong, or.

[A]

It could be from a different Shakespeare play or.

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

That's kind of how this works, though.

[A]

You know, I'm just skeptical that they're of the. Initially, I'm skeptical of a festival built on worms because people in general aren't wild about worms.

[C]

Oh, interesting. Ah, Ben, I love. Wow.

[A]

Okay, this one's taken the longest because usually we. We've nailed something down by now. We're at 50 seconds.

[C]

I'm going to say not real.

[A]

You know what? I'm tempted to say the same thing just because it was so detailed. You want to lock it in? Let's lock it in. And you'll come back if we. Okay. All right. Three, two, one. False, false, false.

[C]

Sorry.

[B]

You're correct.

[A]

Yeah. Oh.

[B]

There was no reign of words in 1402 in Shropshire, England. I made up the line from Henry iv, part one. There's. There is a line that does say that. That fortune is disposed to us, but Hotspur says it in a completely different context. There's no festival of the Reign of Worms.

[C]

I would think I would have heard of this.

[A]

It's a little Lovecraftian, just from the brand.

[B]

Sure, England, you probably wouldn't have heard. I had. I had prepared an explanation or description of the festival, but you. You had sussed it out so early that I didn't have a chance to. Where is this Further?

[C]

Where is the count now? Where does this put us?

[B]

Oh, you're getting a little closer. I want to say that maybe I'm one or two head. Honestly, it's been so long that I just declared myself supreme winner of all things for all time.

[A]

Hey, I've got an idea. You should. You should come back.

[B]

So you want to have yet another matching of wits?

[A]

Oh, that's. That's a strong word. I just. I thought I would give you another chance to do a little better next time.

[B]

I'll go and count them up if you want me to. I'm pretty sure I've at least one or two ahead, but it is on like the Donkey Kong. Mr. Bolan.

[A]

Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, no, we gotta win.

[C]

We did get away. Sometimes you just need a win.

[A]

And thanks, Casey. Thanks for. Thanks for intervening in there, too. That was really cool.

[B]

I appreciate that you believe in me, Casey.

[A]

So this concludes our episode, but not our show. Stay tuned next time when we explore the strange, hilarious, somewhat disgusting, definitely ridiculous method that scientists use to trace the path of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

[B]

It's the smell test.

[C]

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[A]

There's a vile sickness in Amber's Town. You must excise it. Dig into the deep earth and cut it out. From iheart Podcasts and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. This is Havoc Town, a new fiction podcast set in the Bridgewater audio universe, starring Jewel State and Ray Wise. Listen to Havoc town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[D]

There's stuff they don't want you to know.

[B]

Every Monday we break down the news, make connections, and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.

[A]

A secret deal between members of Mexican cartels and the United States government.

[C]

Residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds.

[A]

Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.

[D]

Welcome to Pretty Private with ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you.

[C]

Every Tuesday, make Make sure you listen.

[D]

To Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[A]

I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel.

[D]

If flying makes you anxious.

[A]

In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Neal Barnett.

[D]

And I discussed flight anxiety.

[C]

What is not normal is to allow.

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It to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[D]

This is an iHeart podcast.